FC Halifax Town

The modern ‘FC Halifax Town’ (@FCHTOnline) was formed in 2008 after Halifax Town A.F.C. was dissolved due to over £814,000 in tax debts, the new club began life in the Northern Premier League Division One North, the eighth tier of English football. Under Neil Aspin’s management, FC Halifax achieved three back to back promotions, helped in part by a young striker called Jamie Vardy, climbing to the National League by 2013. The new Shaymen have also enjoyed cup success, winning the FA Trophy twice, first in 2015–16 and again in 2022–23.

Their current badge is a modern take on the older shield, featuring blue and white stripes with a prominent white rose in the centre. The white rose, representing Yorkshire (also seen on the Leeds badge and other Yorkshire teams), reappears in the modern design as smaller roundels flanking the circle containing the club’s name.

The badge features their nickname, ‘The Shaymen’, derived from their home ground, ‘The Shay’, meaning ‘small wood’ in Old English. The estate, named in 1462, was passed down through nobles and developed for various uses, including the Shay Mansion, built in the 1700s. The mansion was demolished in 1903 after a new road, constructed on gasworks waste, made it unliveable. The waste caught fire in 1905, collapsing the road, which was later rebuilt with safer materials. The Shay Stadium, in use since 1921, has hosted football, rugby, speedway, and ice skating.

So that’s the current badge, stadium and nickname, sorted.

Digging deeper, we find an earlier badge used by the club, featuring the Halifax Town coat of arms. This one is a bit magical—I’ll include the image in this post.

First, let’s address the giant ginger dude on the badge. Who is he? It’s John the Baptist. St John’s Church, the oldest in town, is dedicated to him, and his image appears throughout Halifax. The first church on this site dates to around 1120. Its organist in 1766, William Herschel, used to build telescopes in his spare time – and was the first man to discover the planet Uranus, the first new planet to be discovered since antiquity.

The shield itself is chequered blue and yellow; these are the colours of the Warenne family. William Warenne was cousin to William the Conqueror and fought by his side at the Battle of Hastings. Halifax, and a lot of land in Surrey (he was given the title ‘Earl of Surrey’), were his reward.

The town grew as a centre for the local wool trade, which explains the sheep atop the crest. However, locals had a reputation for rowdiness, prompting authorities to innovate by introducing the Halifax Gibbet. This early form of the French guillotine was used for public executions, with records showing its use from the 13th to 17th centuries—far longer than anywhere else in England. English poet John Taylor, in the 16th century, penned The Beggar’s Litany, where the beggar exclaims, “From Hell, Hull and Halifax, Good Lord, deliver us!” (Hull is mentioned for its practice of tying criminals to posts at low tide to drown). In Halifax, men spent three days in stocks, displayed with the goods they were accused of stealing, before execution.

During the Industrial Revolution, Halifax, like many other Yorkshire towns, was central to the wool trade, with large mills employing thousands. In this respect, it shares heritage with Lancashire mill towns like Accrington and Manchester. However, what makes this town’s story a bit different is the success of hits namesake bank - The Halifax. With all the investment in factories and infrastructure (mills, canals, railways), someone needed to provide the capital. Enter the Halifax Bank.

The bank became a building society, mutually owned by its members, pooling funds to help with home construction. Initially, it worked with larger philanthropists, funding homes for factory workers, such as Edward Akroyd's Akroydon scheme in today’s ‘Boothtown’ district and John Crossley’s West Hill Park Model Dwellings. Both are still standing as beautiful Victorian-era homes. Later, the bank expanded nationwide, helping individuals with home building and mortgages. My first-ever bank account was opened at the Halifax on Felixstowe High Street in Suffolk.

So, FC Halifax: A mixture of Yorkshire mill town grit, a tradition of swift executions and canny long term investments – The #Shaymen are never to be written off.